The Mimeograph Revolution

A now-obsolete, seemingly-primitive copy medium, known as the Mimeograph Machine, had the power to fuel a renaissance for artist and writers. Invented by Edison, this duplicator was simple to operate and inexpensive to acquire. Counter-culture creative talents turned to this stencil duplicator in order to circumvent the suffocating demands of the mainstream press reaching it's golden years in the 1960's and '70s. This mid-century movement nurtured the Beat Generation, the New York School, and the San Francisco Renaissance, as well as numerous individuals. In many ways, the simple, fragile nature of these limited edition publications serves to make its own statement.

Panoply was able to purchase a collection of publications from the Chicago contingent of the Mimeo Revolution, and we featured them in our Nov 2018 mini catalog. The most notable ones from this collection could be the D.A. Levy's For John Scott Who Painted Flowers and the set of The Marrahwannah Quarterly. To see the rest of our Mimeo Revolution publications, please click here, and of course we have more on hand in the store.